


A Coffee and Catch Up

by serenbach



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: First Dates, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Post-Episode Ignis Verse 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-10-16 07:39:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17545481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenbach/pseuds/serenbach
Summary: When Noct's favourite cafe re-opens, he takes the opportunity to have a coffee and a catch up with his advisor.It almost feels like a date.And if he's very lucky, it will be the first of many.





	A Coffee and Catch Up

**Author's Note:**

> This is a pinch hit for Jooliart who requested an older Ignoct coffee date. Hope you enjoy!

There was nothing remarkable about the café, other than the fact it existed at all after ten years of darkness and neglect. If Noctis looked around closely enough he could probably see tell-tale signs of it; cracks in the counter and the overwhelming scent of fresh paint, but he was too happy to be back in his old favourite café that had managed to re-open six months after the New Dawn to worry about it too much.

Though calling it a café was a bit of a stretch, at best it was a diner, selling cheap, greasy food at reasonable prices. Once, its target audience had been school children, sneaking out at lunchtime for something other than cafeteria food or stopping off on their way home to fill up on junk food. Now it was mostly full of Hunters, doing the same thing.

It was not the sort of establishment in which one would expect to find a king, even if that king ruled a kingdom that was at least half rubble, but then again, Noctis had been both a school kid sneaking some fries on his way home and a Hunter hungry enough to eat anything.

When he had discovered that the son of the former owner had survived and had applied to re-open his father’s old café, Noctis had approved his request immediately.

(And it was a tedious process, sorting out the genuine claimants of left-behind property and goods from those taking advantage of other people’s tragedies).

Perhaps it was a misuse of his power, but Noctis had a lot of fond memories of this café and he had no regrets.

It was easier to sneak out now he was king than when he was a student, but then again, no one was going to deny the Chosen King a burger now and then, even if the burger was of dubious quality.

“Is this seat taken?” a familiar voice asked when he was half way through a bite, and Noctis indicated the chair opposite with a grin hidden in his burger.

“How did you know how to find me?” Noctis asked innocently as soon as he could and Ignis gave him a look of fond exasperation.

“You text me to let me know where you were,” Ignis replied wryly. “It took very little detective work on my part, though I did need to make your excuses to various people.”

“I text you to meet me here because I made a very important discovery,” Noctis told him seriously, leaning forward and lowering his voice. Ignis leant forward as well, looking both intrigued and alarmed. “They found a cache of Ebony in the basement, and it’s still good.”

“Well, a break never did anyone any harm,” Ignis said, looking all of a sudden like the co-conspirator of his escapes from the Citadel rather than a responsible advisor to the crown.

Ignis signalled the apathetic-looking waiter and placed his order, and Noctis laughed at the eager look on his face.

“I should have known you would do anything for an Ebony,” Noctis teased, and Ignis gave him a soft little smile.

“I didn’t know about the Ebony until I got here,” he pointed out. “I came because you asked me.”

It took all of Noct’s willpower and concentration not to choke on his burger when Ignis said that, and he floundered for a moment, unsure of what to say.

Luckily Ignis didn’t seem to notice his awkwardness. “It’s been a long time since we’ve been here,” he observed, looking around him with interest. “I noticed you sat at our old table.”

“I did,” Noctis admitted, his face feeling hot. This table, or at least one in this same location, had been the one he and Prompto had favoured in their after school visits, where they were often joined by Ignis, and sometimes Gladio. Quite often they’d been left to their own devices while Prompto and Gladio went to play on the arcade machines. Noctis still suspected Prompto – who knew of his massive crush – of matchmaking. Prompto had never denied it.

Ignis calling it “their table” though was leaving him feeling flustered. Ignis had been doing that a lot, lately.

Ever since he had come back from the Crystal, Ignis had been very… _sincere._ Ignis been very open about how much he had missed him, and how much faith he’d had in him, and just how glad he was that Noctis had survived.

All of that was, if not quite normal, to be expected after so long apart and facing such impossible odds. But Ignis sometimes almost seemed like he was _flirting_ with him.

Noctis wasn’t sure – his romantic experience, pre-Crystal, was not extensive, to put it mildly – but, the way Ignis would look at him, some of his comments, gave him hope. He’d asked for Gladio’s opinion once, and Gladio had rolled his eyes so hard he gave himself a migraine. Noctis hadn’t quite dared to get a third opinion.

He just wasn’t sure about how to go about having that conversation with Ignis. But despite all that, his main reason for inviting Ignis was simply because, despite seeing him every day, he felt like they hardly spent any time together. Most of their day was spent in their roles as king and advisor.

Noctis missed spending time with his friend. They’d barely had any time to just be themselves.  

Ignis thanked the waiter as he put down his order, ignoring the rather sad looking sandwich on his plate in favour of the Ebony. His eyes closed in bliss and Noctis laughed again.

“We’ll see if they’ll sell us a few cans to take back with us,” he offered, and Ignis smiled at him.

“I managed without it for ten years,” Ignis reminded him. “There were other things I missed more.”

He gave Noctis a pointed look, and Noctis really did blush that times.

“Specs,” he replied, completely lost for words, then looked closer. Ignis had a pleased smile on his face and Noctis realised that he really was making him flustered deliberately. “You’re doing this on purpose!”

“Gladio told me to be more obvious,” Ignis told him. “I wasn’t sure how much more obvious I could be, but he informed me that you were hopeless.”

“Well,” Noctis replied, not able to argue. “Technically I did ask you out. This totally counts as a date.”

“That is true,” Ignis replied, jabbing his sandwich with a fork. It made an odd squelchy noise. “This is a very romantic location.”

“Well, next time, I’ll let you choose where we go on our date,” Noctis promised, not able to hide his smile. “Maybe somewhere without plastic cutlery.”

“I appreciate that,” Ignis said, reaching over to take his hand and squeezing it gently. “But I admit to being rather fond of this place.”    


End file.
